After The Match
by Rikusuke
Summary: After losing her match with Flare, the embarrassing loss keeps replaying over and over in Lucy's mind. While lying in her bed at the inn, Lucy continues to beat herself up over what happened at the Grand Magic Games. When it seemed like she wasn't going to get any piece of mind, Erza slips into the bed with her. Rated T just because I'm paranoid. An ErLu friendship one-shot.


**No, I'm not dead. I feel like a start a lot of stories off this way XD But yes, Riku is still alive and well! I just procrastinate like hell. I also completely lost inspiration to write. One day, I was watching Fairy Tail and it was the episode where Lucy said that Erza climbed into her bed at night. That let my imagination run wild XD I also thought about Lucy's loss to Flare so I figured I'd put two and two together. So here ya go! I haven't given up on my other stories. I'll get to work on Dominance and Playlist. I'm going to finish that challenge dammit. While you're waiting for me to update those, have a one-shot! Enjoy!**

**I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Lucy rolled over on the bed for what seemed like the billionth time. The springs squeaked but she knew that it wouldn't wake up her two male teammates. She stared out the window and restlessly shifted her position again, earning more rattling from the bed. After a long day at the Grand Magic Games it was great to be back at their hotel. However, Lucy found herself unable to sleep. She was still being tortured over her loss to Raven Tail's Mage, Flare, earlier that day. Even though she reassured everyone that she was fine, she was far from it.

The hotel room was bathed in moonlight from the open window, something Lucy was thankful for. She'd much rather stare outside opposed to a wall. Natsu continued to snore like a train while Happy was curled up beside him, completely unfazed by the noise. Gray's clothes were scattered all over the room and he had collapsed onto his bed naked. Somewhere along the way he had pulled the blankets over him and fell asleep. Lucy had seen Erza get into bed but quickly rolled over when the Re-quip Mage looked her way. It was hard for her to look at any of them after her embarrassing loss. Fairy Tail was still in last place because of her. It literally made her feel ill just thinking about it.

After staring out the window for awhile, she heard springs squeaking. Her bed began to shift, accompanied by the bed's creaking, and a body slid under the blankets next to her. She tensed when she felt someone press against her but soon relaxed when a couple strands of scarlet hair fell around her face. Lucy looked over her shoulder at the red head, trying her best to look like she had been sleeping. Erza had herself propped up with her arm as she studied the blonde's face.

"Lucy," the Re-quip Mage began. "are you okay?" she furrowed her eyebrows in concern.

"I'm fine." Lucy faked a yawn and blinked.

"I know you weren't sleeping so knock it off." Erza frowned. "Is something bothering you?"

"I'm fine." the Celestial Mage recited for the hundredth time that night.

"Is it about losing to that Raven Tail girl?" the red head asked.

"No, Erza." Lucy replied edgily, roughly turning back around to face the window. "I'm alright."

"Lucy, it's fine, really." Erza scooted closer to her, closing the distance Lucy had put between them. "Everyone loses once in awhile."

"You don't!" Lucy snapped in a mixture of irritation and unease. She jerked her body back around to glare at the other girl. "You never lose to anyone, Titania! You're one of Fairy Tail's strongest!" the words came out a lot harsher than she intended.

Erza was silent for a few moments after the outburst. "I've lost plenty of times, Lucy. You know that." she whispered. "I lost to Jellal-"

"I'm sorry," the Celestial Mage mumbled, cutting her friend off. She felt immediate guilt for lashing out at the red head. She was only trying to help after all. She hadn't meant to bring back painful memories of her friend's time at the Tower of Heaven.

Erza tucked a lock of blonde hair behind Lucy's ear. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over what happened." she smiled gently. "You would have beat her if she hadn't threatened Asuka's life. It was a dirty trick but she knew how much you cared about your guild mates. Threatening to kill Asuka guaranteed her victory."

Lucy felt sick at her stomach. The memory of looking over and seeing the locks of orange hair so close to little Asuka made her veins turn to ice all over again. Knowing she was powerless to do anything to help the child made it even worse. Getting the shit beaten out of her hurt less than knowing she wouldn't be able to save Asuka if Flare decided she wanted to kill the little girl anyway. By the time Natsu had singed the Raven Tail Mage's hair, it was too late. Lucy had already been beaten; the match was over. Flare took advantage of the Celestial Mage's weakness and made sure the blonde wouldn't be able to continue with their fight.

The embarrassment of losing so badly made her cheeks turn red all over again. Losing in a regular fight is one thing but losing in front of all her guild mates... All of them were counting on her to win so Fairy Tail could come out as the victor when the Grand Magic Games was over. The loud booing crowd echoed through her ears and she fought back the need to cover them and bury her head under a pillow. It was all too much... Even though the match was in the past it kept replaying in her head over and over.

Lucy's lips quivered and she struggled to fight back the tears that began to form in her eyes. She let every one down. She had everything to lose and Flare took it from her just like that. How could she even show her face in front of her guild mates, let alone the crowd at the Games? She completely embarrassed Fairy Tail. She made them the laughing stock of all of Fiore.

The hot tears burned her eyes, slowly trickling down her cheeks. Lucy was painfully aware of the great Titania beside her. She desperately didn't want to cry in front of the strongest woman in Fairy Tail. As if Erza didn't think she was already weak enough... Crying was just going to make everything worse.

Erza studied the blonde's face, watching her attempt to fight back the strong wave of emotion that was engulfing her. Lucy was about to roll over again, if she was going to cry she couldn't be facing Erza when she did so. Before she could move, the Re-quip Mage's strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her against her body. The blonde's eyes widened in surprise, her arms squished in between their chests.

Unable to hold back any longer, Lucy buried her face into the red head's chest and finally allowed the tears break through. She had thought she'd cried out all her tears in the shower but apparently she still had plenty left over. Erza rested her chin on top of the blonde's head, her grip tightening slightly on Lucy's shaking body. They didn't speak; they stayed silent except for the muffled sobs that came from the Celestial Mage. Erza didn't try to pull away or offer anymore words of comfort. She just let the blonde soak her shirt with her tears while she held her. Eventually Lucy's crying subsided into sniffling. Her throat felt tight and sore, she knew her eyes would probably be red and puffy.

The blonde didn't try to move. She stayed perfectly still in Titania's embrace, clutching her shirt tightly. The sweet scent of strawberries tickled her nose, Erza's warmth was slowly but surely thawing the ice in her veins. The Re-quip Mage had remained silent the whole time, Lucy couldn't help but look up at the red head. Erza looked down at her in return, resting her forehead against the Celestial Mage's. The red head used her thumb to wipe away a stray tear that rolled down Lucy's cheek. Erza continued to stare at the blonde's flushed face, brown eyes locking with brown eyes.

"Lucy," Titania whispered.

"I-I just feel like I let everybody down." Lucy whimpered. She was about to look away but Erza grabbed her chin, forcing her to keep eye contact.

"Nobody blames you, Lucy." Erza reassured her. "Remember that Gray also had a bad day at the games. We don't blame him either. Watching you both today just made Fairy Tail's resolve stronger. For you two, I can't even imagine how strong it is."

"I don't wanna lose to them anymore." Lucy murmured. "I don't wanna lose to anybody. Next time I'm going to beat whoever gets in my way. Fairy Tail's gonna be the number one guild in Fiore again. No matter what." she looked full of determination.

Erza chuckled softly. "That's my girl," she lightly pressed her lips against Lucy's forehead causing the girl to blush. "Now get some sleep. We have another big day at the games tomorrow. We'll show them just how determined us fairies can be."

That's how it has always been. You could knock a fairy down but they'd always get right back up again. They'd fight to the very end until they reached their goal. Lucy snuggled closer to the Re-quip Mage, her eyelids growing heavy from exhaustion.

"Thank you..." the blonde mumbled. She didn't hear if Erza replied or not. She had already drifted off into a comfortable, dreamless sleep.

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**And there you have it. Short and sweet. I hope you enjoyed the little one-shot! Gawd I love Erza and Lucy. The feels are just so powerful man. Everybody all aboard the S. S. OTP! This wasn't necessarily an ErLu one-shot but it can be interpreted that way. Whether you want to see it as a friendship thing rather than a ship is up to you. I'm personally fine with either XD  
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**Please Read and Review! I feel like my writing has gotten really rusty. I want you to tell me what you think? Did you enjoy this? Was it terrible? Should I stop writing this shit all together? XD Just let me know your opinion, it's much appreciated. 'Til next time you lovely fanfic readers!**


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